The Rise of Distrust: State Officials, Gifts and Social Hierarchy in Laos

Conceptualisations of the state as a reified entity fall short in the case of socialist Laos. Foreign commentators often imagine Lao political life through a discourse of state governance, yet the Lao themselves, in popular narratives, tend to emphasise their day to day interactions with state officials. In their everyday lives, the latter are treated as individuals with which it is possible to interact. This article explores the relations between the Lao people and their government officials, and how those relations have changed in recent history (mainly since 1975). Wedding receptions - vital events in Lao social life, where power is invoked through performance and representation - are taken as case studies for the analysis of authority and legitimacy in a socialist state context.